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South Sydney Rabbitohs will be desperate for the two points when they take a home game to Barlow Park in Cairns on Sunday to face the North Queensland Cowboys.

Round 19 concludes in Cairns on Sunday night as the South Sydney Rabbitohs make the long trip up north to do battle with the sixth-placed North Queensland Cowboys.

Like a lot of other teams this weekend, this clash is shaping as a must-win game for the Rabbitohs, who are languishing in 12th spot on the ladder and six points behind the eighth-placed Eels.

Souths were just starting to generate some genuine momentum after barely making an impact this season, picking up six points from three weeks with big wins over the Titans and Panthers either side of the bye.

The Rabbitohs’ 42-14 victory over Penrith was easily their most impressive performance of the season, giving fans a glimmer of hope that a late-season revival was on the cards.

However Souths stumbled last week against a Roosters side missing four of their best players to Origin, falling 14-12, and now all of a sudden they are back to square one and facing a must-win trip to Cairns.

North Queensland have no such concerns and are unbeaten since a 23-22 loss to competition leaders Melbourne back in Round 15.

The Cowboys are quickly adapting to life without Johnathan Thurston, with Michael Morgan really stepping up in recent weeks, while early signs suggest a successful partnership with Te Maire Martin is in progress.

After coming from behind to register a thrilling win over the Panthers and then finishing strongly to conquer the Raiders away before last week’s bye, the Cowboys are sitting nicely in sixth spot, just two points behind second-placed Cronulla.

Playing in Cairns rather than making the trip to Sydney is certainly advantageous for the Cowboys, especially as they have a number of Origin stars backing up. I think Souths’ revival is over before it really started and the Cowboys will come away with the spoils.

Stats

Cowboys lead overall H2H 16-14

Cowboys won 20-6 in Round 5 earlier this season

Cowboys won 20-0 over Souths in Cairns in 2016

Team Lists

Robert Jennings replaces Braidon Burns in the South Sydney backline, while the Cowboys are unchanged from their win over Canberra a fortnight ago.